This is a Haka, a posture dance performed most famously by the Maori tribes in New Zealand. It’s a traditional thing dating back many years, but is most recognised as the ‘shouting thing the All Blacks (New Zealand rugby team) do before every game’.

This is actually just one kind of Haka (Ka Mate) – there are a variety of different ones, some just for men, some for women, some for both, some for children – and they’re performed for a variety of different reasons. The Peruperu (war Haka) was used to intimidate their opponents before battle by showing their strength and physical prowess to their enemies. Some Hakas are just for entertainment, or used to welcome important or revered guests.

I’ve always found that the interesting thing to watch during a war Haka like this is not so much the movements of the arms and legs, but the facial contortions – men waggle their tongues and open their eyes really wide, and pull crazy faces. All part of the intimidation thing.

Never seen a flash mob Haka before. Awesome.

Source: New Zealand girlfriend, and lifelong love of rugby.

Bonus:

Without a traditional response, the opposing team must feel a bit scared:

A few more, if you (like I) can’t get enough. If you’re a Shambhala Buddhist practitioner, the “lyrics” of the chant might just sound a bit familiar:

Sans rugby!

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Oh I saw this or a very similar dance in New Zealand, in Auckland. Up close and personal it is extremely wakeful! Maori were the last of the wandering Polynesian Pacific island tribes to find a homeland, so were in some ways the most desperate and the least intimidated. Their warrior culture lived in harmony with nature until Captain Cook came and changed all that.